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Employers should not have the right to monitor their employees' Internet use during the work day. Unfortunately, many companies have started this practice which has led to some people getting reprimanded or even fired from their jobs based on their Internet activities.

If an employer must monitor their employees' Internet use, it's clear that they do not trust them. These people were hired because they were qualified and the employer believed they could complete a job to the fullest of their abilities. Monitoring Internet use shows the employer has lost that trust, even if the employee has no record of trouble on the job.

Monitoring what other people do online is not a constructive way for either party to spend their days. It is disappointing that whole departments have been hired to specifically monitor Internet use and print such reports out for employers. The money spent on hiring and training these people could probably be better spent elsewhere. For example, employers could choose to make improvements to the office or provide training seminars for employees to do better in their jobs.

If employees are on the Internet to begin with during the day, they may have a lack of work to do. Why doesn't the employer consider giving them more work to do instead of picking on what employees are doing when they have run out of work? Perhaps if employers were willing to keep their employees busy, they wouldn't spend so much time online.

Although we hear reports of employees being fired for looking at pornographic sites all day, it is not fair to say that everyone looks at these kinds of sites on the job. No one should be reprimanded for shopping on Ebay or Amazon if they are searching for perfectly legal products such as DVDs or a new laptop. Sometimes employers take the right to monitor too far.

Instead of sitting around noting an employee's every move on the World Wide Web, it's time employers did something constructive about it.. Employers should have an Internet filter to block out any sites they don't feel their employees should also have access to.

Further, employers can place a time limit on Internet usage every day. Employees can be allowed online for an hour or two a time; which would equal a lunch hour and one or two other short breaks throughout the day. This will keep employees working hard while giving them much needed breaks to relax without having to worry about who is snooping on them.

Employers already check up on employees in a lot of ways. They do background checks and drug testing before they are hired. They make sure they have enough work to do and that it gets done the right way. There should be no reason to add monitoring Internet use to this list.

Learn more about this author, Alison Myers.
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